Wisconsin Tech. Ed. Teachers are Transforming Shop Class and Encouraging Students to Consider Careers in the Trades

Saturday, June 7th, 2025 -- 6:53 AM

(Beatrice Lawrence, Wisconsin Public Radio) -Technical education teachers at Wisconsin high schools are transforming shop class and encouraging more students to consider careers in the trades.

Right now, Americans are questioning the value of higher education, especially with the rising cost of education and burden of student debt. According to a 2024 survey from the Pew Research Center, only 22 percent of U.S. adults say the cost of a four-year college degree today is worth it, even if someone has to take out loans. At the same time, jobs in the trades are among Wisconsin’s “hottest jobs,” jobs with above-average salaries with the highest projected growth, according to the state Department of Workforce Development. And in recent years, Wisconsin high schools have seen a steady increase in enrollment in hands-on technical education courses, according to Perkins V data. That comes after years of declining enrollment nationwide in the 1990s and 2000s. Quincy Millerjohn of Middleton used to be an English teacher. And while he enjoyed working with kids, he felt like he wasn’t preparing many of his students for success in the real world.

He went to get a welding degree at Madison College, and in 2017, he started teaching welding at Middleton High School. Millerjohn wants to show his students the trades can be a fulfilling and lucrative career path and one that doesn’t require an expensive four-year degree. “There are career-worthy jobs out here,” Millerjohn told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “These are not jobs where kids are going to run out of salary ladder in their 20s. They really can continue to progress up into careers that are going to sustain them.”

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